The first MORBIUS trailer hints at uniting the Sony and Disney Marvel Universes – and has a shocking cameo

One of the most unlikely cinematic comic book solo outings is becoming reality as the Jared Leto-starring Morbius is headed to theaters this summer, and Sony, hot on the heels of their shocking success with Venom, has dropped the first trailer for the film that ties deeper into the current Spider-Man universe than we could have reasonably expected:

I can’t say I’m up on my Morbius mythos, so I’ll let you long time Spidey-heads tell me how close it hews to the Roy Thomas/Gil Kane origins for the character, but I am a bit fascinated by how much MCU Spider-Man related material is actually present in the film. Venom was notable, beyond being a huge monetary success, for how it basically divorced that character from Spider-Man altogether with nary a mention anywhere (which was quite a feat), but here in the middle of the trailer, we can not only see a poster that’s defaced in a way that highlights the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, (while featuring the long ago Tobey Maguire Spider-Man of all things) but also a (BIG) surprise cameo at the very end of the trailer. While I’m sure all of this would have existed in the film regardless of what happened with the big Disney-Sony split and then reunion over Spider-Man, but it’s still kind of neat to see a totally separate studio acknowledge the work Disney has done with rehabilitating the franchise. We’re clearly just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Peter Parker showing up in the one of these. Maybe when they make the Silk movie or whenever Venom and Spider-Man finally cross paths?

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What’ll be interesting to note is that while Venom is a mega-popular character that crosses far beyond the boundaries of comic books, Morbius doesn’t have quite have that same cachet that guarantees a huge box office draw (Morbius who?) and of course, Jared Leto himself is a magnet for controversy, all self-inflicted, from his antics behind the scenes on Suicide Squad to other, far more troubling, accusations that have surfaced over the years.

Still, Sony expects this will keep their side of the Marvel universe humming, and they could be right. It’s a comic book world and we’re all living in it, gang.

Also, jeez, Jared Harris and Matt Smith…it’s a reunion for The Crown before our eyes.

Kyle is a Film Critic for The Beat. His work can also be found at ScreenRex.com and can be heard on the ScreenRex podcast. He really loves the Legion of Super-Heroes a lot. He's also the Vice-President of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and a founding member of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle.